Basement Studio - Plans and Questions...

I've recently moved into a new house and will have the opportunity to build a dedicated studio space! I've been studying Rod's book as well as F. Alton Everests "Sound Studio Construction on a Budget" and scouring this forum as well as the Gearslutz acoustic section. These have given me a good foundation. Goal - The goal of the studio is to have a dedicated place to record and mix music for myself and occasionally a local band. Recording and playing music is just a hobby of mine - not a full time job so I'm trying to keep construction costs and design within reason. Isolation Requirements - Because the studio is located in a daylight basement, I'd like to have adequate isolation from the area above it (thankfully bedrooms are on the 3rd level). Decent isolation from the rest of the basement would be nice but is not my top concern. Most of the music that will be recorded will be electric guitar. I play rock and metal and tend to crank my tube amps up a bit for optimal sound. Occasionally, I'll be recording drums but since this will be rare I can live with some bleed from this a few times a year. Plan - There are two posts in the basement that would serve as a natual place to put up a wall and divide the space. This is where I started with my design. The ceiling height is 8 feet and the width of the room (interior wall to wall) is just short of 12 feet. I extended the length of the control room to land near Louden's 3rd room ratio (slight variation based off of this chart John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum • View topic - Garage Studio Build 11CCOCO). At the back of the live room there is a 2 foot section in the foundation that is deeper than the rest of the wall. I decided to make that a closet to store mic stands, mics, cables, etc. The long wall with the posts would be staggered stud construction (2x6 plates) with insulation and 2 layers of 5/8" drywall on each side. Between the CR and live room would be two independent walls with insulation and 2 layers of 5/8" drywall. There is a window between the CR and Live room. Ceiling construction would be insulation between the floor joists with 2 layers of 5/8" drywall (and potentially green glue) hanging from RC2. I've attached a few screenshots of my plan and put a link to the sketchup file. Sketchup File: http://innerflamerecording.com/downloads/Studio/Basement%20Bones%203D%20Studio%20Final%201.skp Constraints - Because this is a hobby, I'd prefer not to get too crazy with angled walls as resale value is always a concern (I'm okay with angled cavities for room treatment though - as you can see in the CR image). The studio area in the basement shares a forced air heating sytem with the rest of the house. I'm sure the sound will travel right through the duct work and bleed to the rest of the house. Because of this, I'm thinking that I should seal up the vents in the studio and add in wall electric heaters in the space. Any other viable options? Another concern is flanking noise through the posts and existing concrete floor and walls. I realize there isn't much that can be done about this but I just want to make sure that the isolation construction I'm doing is still very beneficial. For example, is it a waist to use Green Glue on the celing if the flanking sound is going to just travel up through the posts and walls? Is using a product such as Iso-Sill (Iso-Sill to Reduce Wall Flanking Under Bottom Plate Framing) worth putting under the base plates and/or between the wall framing and the floor joists above? Any feedback on the plans or my questions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Paul

Aloha and welcome to RSD, Paul Nice job on your SketchUp. If I may, you might want to reconsider your room ratios: In Rod Gervais’ book “Build it Like the Pros,” viewtopic.php?t=5670 he points out both L.W.Sepmeyer’s & M.M. Louden’s formulas most widely used in professional studios worldwide. M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 8’ x 11’2” x 15’2” Eric Desart on Louden’s Ratios 1.00 1.40 1.90 8’ x 10’8” x 14’8” L.W. Sepmeyer Height Width Length 1.00 1.14 1.39 8’ x 9’1” x 11’1” Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Thanks for the feedback kendale. Is there a significant difference between Louden's first room ratio and the third (which my design is based off of)? I landed on his third ratio as it maximized the space. I could shrink the width of the rooms down to 11'2" but I'd be wasting a lot of space in the process. Also, any idea if applying green glue to the ceiling would be effective (and worth the cost) given potential flanking sources?

Aloha, He also notes that the orders listed are (top to bottom) the first to third best ratios in both cases. Practically speaking, most of us have to use what space we're given, note and choose the best solution for our needs, acoustically treat accordingly, and do the best we can. Other than comparing the room modes for each of the given variables, (and short of building each set of ratios and evaluating them in a side by side comparison) its difficult to accurately make a definitive call. There's a couple of threads regarding the use of green glue - it merits & its cost - in the construction forum. You could start here: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/search.php?keywords=green+glue&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search Hope this helps, Aloha 8)